Business Edge pledges to help youth homelessness

Thank you Business Edge accountants, which will donate proceeds from upcoming business seminars to help young people who are experiencing homelessness.

The donation coincides with Homelessness Week and will be used by the Youth Team at Junction Support Services to assist young people in need across north-east Victoria with crisis accommodation and other support.

An award winning not-for-profit organisation, Junction assisted more than 550 people of all ages who were experiencing or at risk of homelessness across north-east Victoria in 2016-17.

Business Edge’s Business Development officer Celeste (pictured with Zach from Junction) said the Albury-based accounting firm was proud to use its upcoming business seminars to support local young people in need.

“It’s sad to know there are young people in our community who do not have a safe place to sleep and we’re pleased to be able to join with Junction Support Services to help them,” she said.

Zach, a youth worker with Junction, visited Business Edge to talk about youth homelessness and said most people were vulnerable to homelessness.

“All it takes is one major life event such as a car accident, illness or a sick child and it becomes hard to pay the mortgage or rent. Homelessness can happen to any of us,” he said.

“On behalf of all of us at Junction and our young clients I thank Business Edge for helping some of the most vulnerable young people in our community.”

The first of Business Edge’s Track Your Business to Success seminar will be held on Thursday 9 August, 12pm-1.30pm and more seminars will be held in October. Tickets are $15 and all proceeds will go to Junction Support Services. To register, visit edgea.com.au/events

We were proud to attend Border Trust’s The Big Give event and
receive two grants, totalling $7,300, which will be used to support children and young women in need.

Border Trust handed out almost $200,000 through 26 grants for community projects, taking its overall tally over the past 13 years to $1.73m.

Junction Support Services received $5000 through the YWCA for a Healthy and Empowering Relationships Program (HER) to engage young women in wellbeing and outdoor activities.

We also received $2,300 through 2AY community grant to provide resources for children’s counselling and to improve a room for work. A small portion of the grant will be used for the Community Walk Against Family Violence that will be held late in the year.

All of us at Junction Support Services would like to thank Border Trust, YCWA Albury Wodonga, 1494 2AY and Ace Radio for supporting children and young women in need in the Wodonga community.

Tim said there was a significant need for positive relationship advice to be provided to some of the disadvantaged young women in the area. The HER Program will deliver workshops and activities to five young women aged between 15 and 18 years, focusing on relationships with peers, family, self and partners.

“One of our female counsellors and I will get the young women involved in outdoor activities like abseiling, mountain biking and archery, as well as workshops focused on self-development,” Tim said.

“In the middle of the five week program, the young women will take part in a ‘camp-in’ at a local venue where they’ll do things such as yoga and mindfulness, and be encouraged to consider their transition into womanhood and what it means to them be a woman.”

Over the past eight years YWCA has donated $117,614 to 23 projects through Border Trust.

Our Families and Children’s Specialist Services Manager Tahlia McCulloch said the second grant would be used to buy new resources to support children who are having counselling because they have experienced trauma such as family violence.

Each year we counsel more than 180 children who have experienced family violence and other trauma.

“Family violence affects children’s physical and mental wellbeing, development and schooling and it’s one of the leading causes of homelessness,” Tahlia said.

She said the grant would also be used to make an extra room that’s been made available at Junction Support Services more welcoming for children.

“Those new resources and a more welcoming space will help children to feel more at ease and give them the best chance of healing,” Tahlia said.

Do you know a young person in Tallangatta who might need support to learn to drive?

Or, do you know an experienced driver who would be a good mentor to a Learner?

The L2P Program run in Tallangatta by Junction Support Services and funded by Vic Roads through Towong Shire Council is seeking more Learner drivers and volunteer drivers.

The program matches volunteer drivers with local young people who do not have a car, or anyone who can teach them to drive, to help them get the experience they need to get their P-plates.

L2P Program Coordinator Jacque Owens said mentors and learners use a car based at Tallangatta Secondary College. The program covers the cost of insurance, fuel, professional driving lessons and training.

“L2P is a great opportunity for young people to learn to drive, gain independence and increase their study and work options,” Jacque said.

“L2P also plays an important role in the community because it helps to create safe young drivers on our roads.”

Mentors receive about 10 hours of training through Vic Roads and receive ongoing assistance from Junction Support Services.

Learner drivers receive up to seven professional driving lessons and the mentor supports the learner to reach their 120 hours of compulsory supervised drive time.

The Red Carpet Youth Awards are for 14- 24 year olds who work, study or live in Wodonga.

The Youth Ambassador Award is chosen from the category winners and is a young person who shows outstanding dedication to the community and demonstrates the community’s values in all aspects of their life.

This may be demonstrated through:

Being a positive leader and role model within the community

Volunteering to help others

Demonstrating true dedication and passion to their cause, whether it be in the workplace, through community service, be overcoming personal difficulties or serving and empowering others

Positively affecting the community

The awards were launched on 19 April at a breakfast in Junction Square and will be announced at a gala event on Friday 3 August.

Did you know that every night an estimated 28,000 young Australians between 12-25 are homeless? In most cases, these young people have left home to escape family violence, child abuse and family breakdown.

Wednesday 18 April was Youth Homelessness Matters Day, a campaign to raise awareness and put the spotlight on young people at risk of homelessness or who are experiencing homelessness.

We’ve been supporting people experiencing homelessness since 1989 when our work began with one program in Wangaratta.

Today , we are the leading youth homelessness agency in Wodonga and we run a Youth Refuge proving emergency accommodation, helps young people get back on track and either get back home or learn the skills to live on their own and secure permanent accommodation.

In 2016-17 our youth refuge supported 27 young people.

We also provide Out of Home Care to about 25 young people across north-east Victoria who cannot live with their families or in foster or kinship care and then Leaving Care support and mentoring to those young people when they leave the State Care system upon turning 18.

Unfortunately, young people who are leaving the State Care system are among those at greatest risk of homelessness.

Staff and management at Wodonga car dealer McRae Holden have volunteered 11 driving mentors and a dedicated Holden Spark car for a local L2P driving program – coming to the rescue of young people on a waiting list for their chance to learn to drive.

L2P matches experienced drivers with local young people who do not have a car or anyone who can teach them to drive to help them get the experience they need to get their P-plates.

The McRae Holden team have signed up as volunteer mentors for the L2P program, which is funded by VicRoads through the City of Wodonga and Towong Shire Council.

Junction recruited 22 new volunteers from the community earlier this year but that still left a significant waiting list.

Junction’s L2P co-ordinator Jacque Owens says: “There are many reasons why a young person might not have access to a car at home or someone who can teach them to drive.

“L2P has helped local young people who do not have anyone to teach them to drive because are medical reasons why mum or dad can’t drive, there is not a suitable car at home, their parents are migrants and never had the opportunity to learn to drive in their country of origin.

“We’re very grateful to McRae Holden for coming on board to teach young people who were waiting for their chance to learn to drive and providing a new Holden Spark for young people to complete their supervised driving hours.”

McRae Holden will also cover costs for the new car.

McRae Holden’s Angela Murcott says when their team became aware there were many local young people who needed support to learn to drive they were determined to step in and help.

“It’s important we have capable, safe young drivers and McRae Holden is very happy to join L2P help make that happen for our community,” she says.

“It’s especially important for young people in regional areas to learn to drive because it helps them to get work and further their education opportunities.”

McRae Holden also took part in an event held in Wodonga to celebrate Youth Mentoring Week and encourage more people to donate their time to mentor a young person.

One of our former carers for young people has organised the donation of 12 TVs to be used for young people in care.

For eight years, Chris worked with our team providing out of home care for young people.

Chris is now working as a tradesman renovating a local motel.

When the project manager suggested that TVs being removed could be donated to charity Chris instantly thought of local young people living in out of home care.

“I loved the job and I’m still in contact with some of the young people I cared for. They’re in their mid-20s but they like to let me know what they are doing,” he said.

His favourite memories of the role were taking young people to activities such as AFL games, Luna Park and the Royal Melbourne Show.

“Those sort of activities are things most teenagers take for granted but the young people I was working with had often never experienced that. It made them feel like they were important and it was great fun,” Chris said.

“I had an awesome childhood but sadly, many young people don’t have that same opportunity.”

Our CEO Corienne Krich thanked Chris for his support.

“It was lovely that his first thought was for young people in Out of Home Care,” she said.

Junction Support Services staff Colleen, Catherine, Mark, Angela and Tracey with Bradley from the Blue Knot Foundation at training in Albury.

We were pleased to send members of our Specialist Adolescent Services team to attend training with the Blue Knot Foundation to further support our clients who have experienced trauma.

The Blue Knot Foundation is the leading national organisation working to improve the lives of the five million (1 in 4) Australian adults who are survivors of childhood trauma, including abuse.

Blue Knot’s training course, A Three-phased Approach – Working Therapeutically with Complex Trauma Clients, was held in Albury and was a two-day intensive professional development experience to support people who have experienced multiple traumas to heal.

Our Specialist Adolescent Services manager Michelle Fell said it was a valuable opportunity for our team to have specialist training locally with a nationally-recognised organisation dedicated to helping trauma survivors.

“Our staff are highly qualified but we’re always looking to improve our skills and learn new techniques for the benefit of our clients who have experienced trauma,” she said.

One of the challenges for our team is that we’re seeing more complex cases, in which people have experienced multiple instances of trauma.

The Specialist Adolescent Services team’s work includes:

– Case management and wellbeing support for young people in educational settings, as well as assisting students who have become disengaged from education
– Mentoring programs which assist young people to develop a positive community connection
– Support and case management for children, young people and families with the aim of preventing child protection involvement
– Support and case management for young people who are preparing to leave statutory care or have just left

The Blue Knot Foundation supports survivors, their families and communities through professional phone counselling, information and resources, advocacy and educational workshops.

It also delivers professional development training, group supervision and consultancy for workers, organisations and practitioners working with survivors.

To find out more about Blue Knot and the training it offers please visit blueknot.org.au

Anyone who could benefit from advice or support from Blue Knot can contact 1300 657 380

About Us

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live, and recognise their continuing connection to the land, water and community. We pay respect to Elders past, present and emerging.